Johnny Depp’s pet Yorkshire terriers have jetted out of Australia, just ahead of their deadline to be put down.

The pets, Pistol and Boo, unwittingly caused an international incident when Depp failed to declare them at Australian customs and allegedly brought them into the country without following the proper biosecurity processes.

A statement from Joyce said: “Two dogs that were brought into Australia without meeting our import requirements have now been exported back to their country of origin. A Department of Agriculture officer has escorted the two dogs from the property in Queensland, where they had been held under quarantine order, to the airport for their flight home. The department issued the necessary export documentation and correspondence to the relevant veterinary authority to facilitate the repatriation of the dogs. All costs associated with returning the dogs were met by the owners.”

Apparently without irony, Joyce’s statement added: “Despite the hype and sensation surrounding the dogs’ owners, Australia has strict biosecurity requirements for good reasons – to protect Australia from exotic pests and diseases that can seriously harm humans, animals and our economy.”

Johnny Depp’s dogs parodied in Pirates of the Caribbean: the Canine Calamity.
Link to video

Depp and Heard are expected to be fined for breach of customs and quarantine regulations. Neither has addressed the media, nor sent representatives to do so on their behalf, since news of the breach became public on Thursday.

Joyce’s statement went on: “This situation has highlighted that most Australians understand the importance of biosecurity and that all animals entering Australia must have an import permit, which is only issued after confirmation that pre-export requirements have been met.

“Dogs imported to Australia must be accompanied by a valid import permit, and have undergone relevant testing and health checks signed off by a government veterinarian from the exporting country to ensure pests and diseases from overseas are not brought here.

“Dogs can potentially carry a range of diseases including rabies, ehrlichia, leishmania and leptospirosis. These diseases are not present in Australia and some can seriously affect people.

“With regard to accusations that this is a failing of our biosecurity system, it is in fact evidence that the system is working given the dogs were discovered, placed under a quarantine order and now successfully exported.

“I would like to thank the dog’s owners and their associates for their cooperation and compliance with the department’s quarantine directives.”

Australian radio shock-jock radio Kyle Sandilands attacks the agriculture minister, Barnaby Joyce, for threatening to kill Johnny Depp’s dogs

Joyce had raised concerns the pooches may not be allowed back into the US because they did not have the right paperwork to leave in the first place.

“They obviously got on the plane in the United States without telling the United States authorities that they were leaving,” Joyce told ABC radio on Friday. “Technically, if they absconded [without] the proper process of authorisation in leaving the States, does the US recognise that they’re here? They’re stateless dogs.”

The Department of Agriculture was tipped off about an “illegal animal importation” on Tuesday, around the same time groomers posted on social media that they had attended to the stars’ pets.